Before sold out arenas and Twitch viewership metrics, even before there was such a thing as esports, there were arcades. Groups of gamers came together to challenge one another at games like Street Fighter 2, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat. In these local arcades, the Fighting Game Community (FGC) was born.

The FGC is something akin to a large, extended family. However, for outside observers, this can make for a confusing viewing experience.

In an industry where every game stands apart from its competitors, the FGC represents a unique esports collaboration. Its members work hard to recreate that arcade atmosphere, bringing every subgenre of fighting game together under one roof for tournaments and exhibitions. For long-time participants, the FGC is something akin to a large, extended family. However, for outside observers, this intersection of multiple titles can make for a confusing viewing experience.

With new games drawing in fans from major cartoon franchises, 2018 is set to be the biggest year in fighting game history, and as such more fans, sponsors, and investors will need to understand this complex, multi-layered organism.

Everyone is Welcome

The first thing any newcomer must understand about the FGC is its emphasis on open bracket tournaments. Where most esports attempt to restrict their professional tournaments to top invited competitors, fighting game tournaments are open to anyone willing to pay the entry fee. Invitational events have found success, but at its core the FGC is committed to keeping as many tournaments as possible open to everyone with a controller and a desire to compete.

Most fighting game tournaments take place over the course of three days. On day one the weakest players are weeded out, and by the end of day two only eight players remain for each game. Making Top 8 at a major tournament is a point of pride for any competitor given how many players they had to overcome to reach the final day. Because the tournament was open to everyone, the eliminated players become spectators for the finals, ensuring that each match has a full crowd of passionate, knowledgeable fans reacting at all the right moments.

Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi striking the “Demon” pose of Street Fighter character Akuma, after his win at Evo 2017. Image Credit: Robert Paul, Evo

The Super Bowl of Fighting Games

Because of this open entry policy, the prestige of a fighting game tournament is usually determined by the total number of entrants.To that end, the most important tournament every year is also the tournament that consistently brings in the most entrants: the Evolution Championship Series. While many developers hold championships for their games throughout the year, none of those titles mean as much to the legacy of a player as a win at Evo.

For esports organizations and investors, Evo’s games are most likely to attract the most viewership and traffic throughout the year.

The Evo organizing team selects only a handful of games to feature each year. There are dozens of games in the FGC with active, passionate communities,but for a newcomer attempting to learn about fighting games, focusing on the games that will be featured at Evo offers a clear, simple starting point. You can invest time into any of these games knowing that you’ll see them played on the FGC’s grandest stage. For esports organizations and investors, these are also the games most likely to attract the most viewership and traffic throughout the year.

Taking place in Las Vegas on Aug. 3-5, Evo 2018 will include the following games:

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition

SFV is the latest entry in the most popular fighting game franchise. Most tournaments will conclude their Sunday finals with Street Fighter, as the game usually draws the best viewership numbers of any title. Every major tournament, including Evo, will award points for the Capcom Pro Tour—a year-long circuit sponsored by Capcom with a $600,000 prize pool.

Tekken 7

The Tekken series is unique among popular fighting game franchises. Most fighting games feature two characters fighting on a two-dimensional plane. Tekken is one of the few series that allows characters to move in three dimensions. The game also features a year-long circuit known as the Tekken World Tour, which last year featured a $50,000 prize pool. With no complex character traits or meter mechanics, Tekken 7 is perhaps the most easily watchable game for newcomers.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2

Guilty Gear is the most popular franchise in the fighting game subgenre known as “anime fighters.” These games are characterized by their art style, which is reminiscent of Japanese animation, and their advanced movement options. Guilty Gear allows players to dash while in the air, which opens the game to a faster pace and flashier combos. First time viewers may not always be able to follow the action, but a high-level Guilty Gear match is a spectacle unlike anything else in esports.

BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle

While this particular game has not been released, the BlazBlue series has been a staple of Evo and the FGC for years. Its current iteration, BlazBlue CentralFiction features the same high-intensity action as Guilty Gear (having both been designed by Arc System Works) but BlazBlue places a greater emphasis on defense and reactive play. Cross Tag Battle will add to the frantic pace of the series by introducing a tag mechanic, allowing players to field a team of two characters and switch between them at any time. The game will also pull in characters from other anime fighter franchises and the popular online cartoon “RWBY”.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

While Evo primarily features the most current title in a franchise, Melee continues to defy all expectations. The game features unique movement options not found in any other entry in the series. Players grew to love the faster pace and more difficult execution, and as a result refused to transition to the later titles. Over the last 15 years, Melee has established itself as the most popular competitive title in the Smash Bros series, complete with its own documentary. The graphics may be outdated by modern standards, but the passion of its fans and the skill of its top competitors have made Melee a staple at Evo since 2013.

Super Smash Bros for Wii U

More commonly referred to as “Smash 4”, the latest entry in the popular Nintendo series boasts the largest character roster of any game at Evo. Smash 4 has earned a spot at most major fighting game tournaments due to drawing more entrants than most traditional fighting games. In fact, the Smash games draw so many entrants that there are Smash-only tournaments nearly every weekend all year long. Smash 4’s viewership numbers are lower than Melee’s, but the games feed off each other’s success. Many esports teams sponsor players in both games to draw from their shared fanbase.

Injustice 2

From the developers of Mortal Kombat, the Injustice series brings heroes and villains from the DC comics universe together for intense, hard-hitting combat. Injustice 2 may not have the graphic violence found in Mortal Kombat, but you still feel the impact of every hit. The game has been featured on TBS’s ELEAGUE and features an active online tournament scene. It also just received a major surge in popularity by introducing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as playable characters.

Dragon Ball FighterZ

Heralded by some as the future of the FGC, no one is quite sure where Dragon Ball FighterZ will land within the greater esports landscape. With accessible controls and a cast of characters from the most popular anime franchise in history, DBFZ has successfully drawn in thousands of newcomers to the fighting game genre. Even for newcomers it is thrilling to watch with long flashy combos, beautiful graphics, and super moves ripped right out of the cartoon. If the game can maintain its casual appeal, it could rival Street Fighter for the title of the FGC’s top dog.

Image Credit: Robert Paul, Evo

Drama that’s Better than TV

The FGC is the source of some of the most entertaining drama and rivalries in all of esports. The nature of an open bracket creates a compelling narrative when the fan favorite is sent to the loser’s bracket on day one. Fans are fiercely loyal to their local scene, and rally around the hometown hero when they battle a strong outsider. The storylines found in a fighting game tournament simply do not exist in traditional league-based play.

Fighting games are the only source in esports for truly exceptional trash talk.

Fighting games are also the only source in esports for truly exceptional trash talk. Where other esports have focused on production values and professionalism, the FGC has stayed true to its grassroots origins. Top pros will call each other out on social media, and settle their disputes with a money match at the next major tournament.

Despite the rise of online leagues and PC gaming, every major fighting game tournament still takes place in person, face to face. Two players who genuinely dislike each other sit side by side in front of a monitor. They look each other in the eye before every match, and shake hands when the battle ends (but not before putting their defeated rival in his place).

In an industry searching for ways to create stars and drama, the FGC has found a winning formula to build up heroes and villains, while developing storylines that span multiple years, and multiple games.

In the FGC there is truly something for everyone. With more big games set to release this year, fighting games will continue to grow in popularity and draw more esports investment. It’s only a matter of time before we see the FGC competing with top games like DOTA 2 and Counter Strike in viewership and prize money.

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